We have covered the issue of market volatility often on RealAgriculture.com. Even with the knowledge that volatility is a new-normal, some farmers still try and aggressively sell at the top of the market to derive the highest returns possible. At the Southwest Agricultural Conference in Ridgetown, I spoke with Victor Aideyan, HISGRAIN Commodities Inc. about… Read More
All fall and winter, canola has been the talk of the farming community. With speculation at one point that the acreage in Western Canada could balloon to as high as 22 million acres, farmers are eager to price the 2010 and 2011 crop properly. With the realities of how wet eastern saskatchewan is going to… Read More
Its not only a struggle to decide what to grow but also how to price the crop in this volatile pricing market. With special crops price discovery is an even bigger challenge fro many producers. With the poor growing conditions last year, lentil growers that got the crop off in a timely fashion and got… Read More
There are lot of choices for farmers this year which is creating a significant battle for acres, even amongst the special crop acres. Yellow and green peas are not one of the true sexy selections in comparison to canola but are still an option for farmers looking to diversify the rotation. With all the focus… Read More
Agricultural commodities had a great run in 2010. One has to wonder though if there is any opportunity for things to reverse downward just like it did two years ago as we hit July. Some people like Ron Frost believe that we may have reached a new price plateau. Other market analysts like Moe Agostino… Read More
When you turn on the TV or your computer, it is quite common place to hear or read about the new price reality for commodities. Many of you that have been in this farming game for a long time have heard these kind of comments before. Many people and organizations are wondering if this price… Read More
Do you remember when the Canadian Dollar was sixty cents? Remember when the Canadian Dollar was not volatile and was jokingly called the Canadian Peso. Those were seemingly easier days for many of us that are involved in export or import businesses with the United States. With the Canadian Dollar holding near par and oil… Read More
Last weekend I was at a shop party with many of my neighbours in Picture Butte. Get a bunch of farmers, ranchers and feedyard owners together and what else is there to talk about other than grain prices and hockey. Barley was definitely the topic of discussion at several tables. For me its very interesting… Read More
Across North America everyone is talking about the bullish tone of corn and soybeans. Is wheat going to be the weaker sister in 2011? How much higher will the wheat price have to go to buy some acres back from corn, soybeans, canola and lentils. Some farmers and analysts are even saying that the attention… Read More
One of the good news items this fall has been the soybean story. Yields in Ontario this fall were outstanding, reaching record highs in some areas of the province while at the same time off combine prices reached seasonal highs. Demand is strong for soybeans from countries like China. Already everyone is speculating on the… Read More
If you are interested in politics and economics like I am there is no more interesting fodder every night on the television than in the United States. I love debates and conflict on topics and the US has no shortage of them right now. Whether you are right, left or moderate you cannot deny the… Read More
By Dick Haney At the risk of sounding like the Saturday Night Live character Debbie Downer, there is a potential evil that lurks among us; it is how we leverage equity in our operations to buy more agricultural farm land. I think it would be useful to examine the similarities between Las Vegas and financial… Read More
In the last week I have received several emails and phone calls from people regarding whether or not the Federal Conservatives should have killed the Potash deal with BHP or not. One of the interesting emails I received was from Barry Senft the CEO of the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO). Senft and the Grain… Read More
Last week BHP’s bid to purchase Potash Corp was killed by the Federal Government. Led by Brad Wall, Saskatchewan Premier there was a very vocal opposition and the deal was squashed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Federal Conservatives. What has been treated like a vote on the sovereignty of Saskatchewan, there has been jubilation from many farmers… Read More
Unless you have been hiding under a rock this week you probably have heard about the Canadian Federal Government killing the BHP acquisition of Potash Corp. Saskatchewan holds a significant amount of the world’s potash and the more people I talk to the more that I realize this is more than just about selling a… Read More
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